This invention relates to food mixers, and more particularly to food mixers with locking pivot heads.
To assist in the commercial and domestic preparation of food requiring mixing and/or kneading, hand-held mixers and stand mixers have often been employed. Stand mixers typically include a base or stand on which a rotatable turntable rests for holding mixing bowls of various sizes, a mixer head including an electric motor, and a suitable gear assembly for driving one or more mixing implements, such as beaters, dough hooks, and the like.
It is often desirable to lock the mixer head in an upright operative position to prevent bouncing of the mixer head in heavy dough. It is also desirable to lock the mixer head in a tilted position to prevent the mixer head from falling back to the upright position during procedures such as scraping the contents of the mixing bowl, adding ingredients, removing or installing the mixing bowl and/or implements associated with the mixer head, and so on. Furthermore, it may be desirable to removably mount a hand-held mixer on a mixer stand so that the hand-held mixer can be used as a stand mixer.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, a mixer stand for an electric mixer comprises a pedestal, a pivot head connected to the pedestal for pivotal movement between an upright position for operating the electric mixer and a tilt position, and a locking mechanism for releasably locking the pivot head with respect to the pedestal in at least one of the upright and tilt positions. The locking mechanism has a first locking member operatively connected to the pedestal and a second locking member operatively connected to the pivot head. One of the first and second locking members is biased toward a lower locking position with the first and second locking members being mutually engaged to prevent pivotal movement of the pivot head with respect to the pedestal. The one locking member is movable toward an upper release position where the first and second locking members are disengaged to permit pivotal movement of the pivot head with respect to the pedestal. An electric mixer can be pivotally attached to the pivot head or the pivot head may be integrally formed with the electric mixer housing.
In accordance with a further aspect of the invention, a mixer assembly comprises a hand mixer, a mixer stand for supporting the hand mixer, and a locking mechanism for releasably locking the hand mixer onto the mixer stand. The mixer stand has a base member, a turntable mounted for rotation on the base member, a bowl supported on the turntable, a pedestal extending generally upwardly from the base member, and a cradle connected to an upper portion of the pedestal for receiving the hand mixer. The locking mechanism includes a latch member positioned on one of the cradle and the hand mixer and a first depression located on the other of the cradle and the hand mixer. The latch member is releasably engaged with the depression to thereby releasably connect the hand mixer to the cradle.